Remember this summer when we were all giddy about the prospect this team? It was the deepest, most talented roster than Ainge had put together in the Big Three era. With its mixture of cagey veterans, young versatile talent, and Rajon Rondo, the sky was the limit. Unfortunately, the season was derailed by unexpected injuries and longer-than-expected chemistry to brew. The team was under .500. Garnett hinted at retirement. People started clamoring for Danny to blow it up. Better to get some value back on these investments, right?

But nothing really happened (outside of landing the instant offense of Jordan Crawford for Barbosa's torn ACL and so far signing Terrence Williams to a ten-day).

Like a good GM, Ainge looked under every rock. By all accounts, Danny made calls and took calls from everyone. Maybe he was never truly faced with the decision to either re-tool the team for a championship run this season vs. scrapping the plan and bringing in a new generation of Celtics. We'll never know. In a couple of years, there will be the regret mongers that will troll the fan forums with "WE COULD HAVE HAD ERIC BLEDSOE, DEANDRE JORDAN, AND JOSH SMITH!!!," but we don't know what the future holds. Even with those players, that doesn't guarantee anything. Just as McHale quipped earlier this week, "I've never seen Cap Room score a bucket," Up Side has never won a championship. And maybe it's just me, but the biggest proponents to getting rid of Pierce and Garnett always seemed like ring collectors to me, people who cared more about the champagne than the blood, sweat, and tears. There will be other trade deadlines, other drafts, other summer moves, and other training camps. We can have this argument all over again and again and again.